


Stiles meets Bud

by annannette (fanetjuh)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Depression, Gen, Mentions of Violence, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, mentions of dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 10:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7099753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanetjuh/pseuds/annannette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the traumatic experience of being possessed by the Nogitsune, Stiles has to take care of a little dog. He firmly believes that there is no way he can help the dog in his current state, but little does he know that the dog is actually there to help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stiles meets Bud

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Namelessface](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namelessface/gifts).



“Stiles?” 

Stiles ignored his father yelling his name. He didn’t want to talk to his father right now. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. Every time he saw his father or his friends, he was reminded of all the things the Nogitsune had done to them. He was reminded of all the things he had done to them. 

“Stiles, I’ve got you something!” The Sheriff yelled again and Stiles looked up from the report he had been writing. 

The report was only due in three weeks, but everything that took his mind off of what had happened would do right now.

“I don’t need anything!” Stiles yelled back and he stared at his computer screen again.

“Stiles…” The Sheriff opened the door to his room and he carried a carton box inside. “My deputies found this little one and someone has to take care of him.” The Sheriff shrugged his shoulders. “I thought that maybe you could do that.” 

Stiles turned around and looked at the little dog, deeply asleep. “A dog? You want me to take care of a dog?” Stiles raised his eyebrows and he shook his head. “I can’t take care of anyone, okay? I’ve literally killed people. To death.” His lips formed a straight line and his fingers curled up to form fists. 

“Do you really want me to bring him to a shelter then?” The Sheriff raised his eyebrows and he lifted the box up again. “You know what happens to most of the animals who end up there, do you?”

Of course Stiles knew that. 

Most of the animals never found a home and ended up dead. Shelters didn’t have enough money to take care of all the dogs and cats that were left on the streets. But this dog seemed cute and nice.

“I'm sure a lot of people in this town would want to have him.” Stiles sounded a little absentmindedly and swallowed. Before the whole Nogitsune crap he would have loved to take care of the dog. Now he was only afraid that the dog would be one more person he could hurt. 

“If you take care of the dog the next couple of days, I’ll try to find someone else to take him in.” The Sheriff walked out of the room before Stiles could protest.

Seriously? His das was just gonna leave this dog here? 

Stiles sighed and turned around staring at the carton box. “I'm sorry, Bud.” He rode his chair towards the little dog and he placed the palm of his hand on the dog's soft fur. “I'm really not the right person to take care of you right now. I hope you won’t mind.”

The dog opened his eyes and yawned. He didn’t make a sound, he barely moved and Stiles couldn’t help but smile a little.

“I'll take that as a yes.” He stood up from his chair and lifted the dog out of the box. “I'm not sure when the last time has been since you’ve been out there, but let’s go for a little walk to make sure you won’t ruin everything in this room, okay?”

Of course the dog didn’t answer, but when Stiles placed him on the carpet, the dog wagged his tail.

“Let's put your collar on first, shall we?” Stiles kneeled down and took the boring blue collar out of the box. A few years ago he had seen a cool Batman collar in the pet shop around the corner. He wondered if maybe the shop would still have it.

The dog barked and Stiles shook his head once again placing his hand on the dog’s head. “Yes, yes, we’re going already.” Stiles stood up again and he walked towards the door. 

On top of the stairs the dog stood still. He whined and he looked at Stiles who had already taken the first few steps. 

“Are you afraid of heights?” Stiles cocked his head a little and the dog whined once again. “Come on, I’ll carry you down.” Stiles walked back to the dog and he carefully lifted him up. For a moment he took a deep breath. He knew his own legs, he knew how clumsy he could be, he knew that he had fallen down the stairs more often. He had always survived, but what would happen to the little dog in his arms? 

Stiles swallowed and he carefully took the first step.

Time after time his father and Scott had tried to convince him that it had not been his fault. The Nogitsune had taken over his body. The Nogitsune had been the one almost killing Stiles’ own father. The Nogitsune had been the one trying to frame Derek and Chris Argent for murder. 

But Stiles had been the one secretly liking it. He had liked the feeling of being in control. He had liked the feeling of power. He had liked not being the weakest link for once. 

Would he really like killing the living, breathing, animal being in his arms? Stiles felt his eyes filling themselves with tears only because he was thinking about it. Of course he wouldn’t. Maybe he had liked the feeling of having power and control, he had not liked anything of what the Nogitsune had done. He had not liked seeing Scott’s face, reflecting the pain and disbelief. He had not liked the shock in his father’s eyes when the Sheriff had walked into the police station. And he would never be able to shake the image of the body that had died by his hands. 

“We're almost there.” Stiles took the next step and the next step and the next step and eventually he stood in the hallway. Quickly he placed the dog on the floor again and while he held the leash in one hand, he used the other hand to open the front door. 

He had not been outside in weeks. 

His father had been doing the grocery shopping and Scott had been bringing him his homework. The only one who entered the house apart from those two had been the psychiatrist who had had to take care of Stiles.

Not that the psychiatrist had been able to do much. Maybe he had been an amazing psychiatrist, but he had known nothing about the supernatural world.

Stiles was sure that if he would have told the guy what he had been through and what had happened, Stiles would have ended up in Eichen House again. 

And this time not voluntarily.

Ending up in Eichen House was not very high on his wish list to be honest. 

Stiles had never been fond of the house in the first place, but while he was possessed it had seemed like a good idea. He should have known that the Nogitsune would find a way to break out just because it wanted to, but it had at least been worth a try. Now he was human again he started to realize how horrific the place had been. 

Gates, locks, narcotics, drills, suicides.

Stiles had seen enough to have double as much triggers as he had had before he walked into that place. 

“Stiles? Since when do you have a dog?” Lydia Martin raised her eyebrows and cocked her head a little. “And since when are you getting out of the house again?” She stared at Stiles as if he was an alien and Stiles shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

“I don’t have a dog. My father found him and he has no one else to take care of him. I wasn’t going to let him ruin half of the house, so I didn’t have much of a choice. As soon as he’s done with whatever he has to do, I’m getting back inside.” Stiles scratched the back of his neck. 

The fresh breeze was more pleasant than he liked to admit and thanks to the sunlight it was as if his mood was instantly getting better already. 

“Well, at least that dog managed something none of us has managed so far.” Lydia smiled and she kept on walking while Stiles looked over his shoulder to follow her movements. 

While he thought about her words he stared at the dog. 

The dog was walking through the grass. He was wiggling his tail and once in a while he barked. 

In a way Lydia was right.

The dog had managed to get him out of the house.

Stiles’ lips curled up into a smile and when he realized that he was smiling he started smiling even brighter. 

Managing to get him out of the house was not the only good thing the dog seemed to do. 

“Let's see if they still have that collar, shall we? I’m sure whoever is gonna take care of you prefers Batman over boring blue anyway.” Stiles headed towards the pet store around the corner.

As soon as Stiles stepped into the store, the owner raised his eyebrows. “Since when does the Sheriff’s son have a dog?” He nodded towards the little one happily walking next to Stiles and Stiles shrugged his shoulders.

“He's not mine. My father found him and I’m taking care of him for a few days. I just didn’t wanna walk with that boring blue collar and I was hoping you still had that cool Batman collar I have seen here a couple of years ago.” Stiles leaned casually on the counter and he smiled a bright smile.

“No one bought those things. If you want you can have it.” The man walked away and came back with a few collars. “Here, I’m glad they can be of use to at least someone.” 

Stiles took the collars and stared at them. He couldn’t put all of them around the dog’s neck, but he picked the one he liked best and changed the collar. 

“Do you like it, Bud?” Stiles patted the dog on his head and as some kind of answer the dog started barking. “I guess that’s a yes.” Stiles smiled and he pressed the dog a little tighter to his chest. “Let’s go home again, shall we?” Stiles stood up and once again he nodded at the shop owner. “Thanks so much.”

“You're welcome.” The owner smiled back and Stiles walked out of the door.

While the dog tried to smell every bit of grass, every tree and every lantern they passed, Stiles was whistling. 

He had not whistled in a while. The last time he had whistled was before the Nogitsune had used his body to commit its crimes.

Stiles looked up when the dog started barking and he realized that the dog was next to his feet. 

“I'm okay, Bud. Don’t worry. I’m fine.” Stiles started walking again and the dog followed. Stiles realized all of a sudden that he should have bought special dog food while he had been in the pet store, but he hoped that giving him some leftovers wouldn’t hurt for once. 

“Dad? I’m home!” Stiles yelled and his dad came out of the kitchen, while he noticed the collar around the dog’s neck. 

Instead of saying something about it, the Sheriff simply raised his eyebrows and nodded towards the kitchen. “I’ve got dinner ready.”

Stiles nodded, but he felt his stomach growl. It was a nice surprise, since it had been a very long time since Stiles had heard the sound. Every time he had tried to eat, he had still been seeing all the bloody wounds and horrible things he had done. This time he sat down in his chair and stared at his filled plate. For every bite he took, he gave a small bite to the little dog sitting next to him.

“So, how was your day today?” The Sheriff cocked his head and once in a while he stared at Stiles taking another bite from his food before giving a bite to the dog.

“I bought a new collar and that’s about it.” Stiles kept on eating and he even filled his plate for a second time. 

“Well, at least the dog managed to get you out of the house.” The Sheriff smiled a little and Stiles looked up. 

“Yes, I’m not gonna let him pee over my new playstation.” Stiles stuffed his mouth with food again, while the dog placed his paw on Stiles’ knee because Stiles had forgotten to give him a bite this time. “O sorry, Bud, here you go. Two bites for you.” Stiles smiled and he stared at the dog for a short moment, almost forgetting that his father was in the kitchen too.

“Why don’t you take the dog upstairs while I do the dishes?” The Sheriff stood up from his seat and Stiles did the same and he walked straight to his room, taking the dog with him. While Stiles laid down on the bed with the controller of his playstation in his hands, the dog placed his head on Stiles' knee.

“Stiles?” The Sheriff knocked on the door and opened it slightly. “It’s past midnight already. You might wanna go to sleep.” The Sheriff smiled, but Stiles didn’t smile back. 

“I haven’t really slept in weeks…” He murmured, but he put the controller aside. Carefully he pushed the dog’s head away so he could stand up. “Come on, Bud, lets have a little walk before the night starts.” Stiles cocked his head and the dog barked, causing Stiles to smile. 

He actually liked staring at the dog, staring at those huge eyes and the lively tail. While the dog wandered through the garden, Stiles forgot to look around, forgot to tremble, forgot to be afraid of the dark and the moon above his head. 

But when he stood in his bedroom again, he sighed and stared at the sheets and the closed curtains. Night after night he had had the same kind of nightmares. He had been dreaming about killing his own friends. He had been dreaming about Allison haunting him for what he had done. He had been dreaming about Ethan coming after him to end his life, just like he had played a part in ending Aiden’s. 

Stiles shook his head when the little dog pressed its head to his ankles and he rubbed the boy over his head for a short moment. “Let's go to bed.” He lifted the corners of his mouth and changed into his pajamas before he lifted the sheets and curled himself up under it. 

Without Stiles asking for it, the dog jumped on the bed too, finding a nice spot next to the boy that was already sweating at the thought of having to sleep.

But Stiles did close his eyes and he tried to breath in and out. 

Strangely enough the company of the dog did something to him. The dog made sure that he didn’t feel alone anymore. Not that the dog would be able to scare away the demons, but it was the thought that counted. 

Stiles had no idea how much time had passed when he was woken up by very loud barking. With a shock he sat up in his bed and he realized that he was sweating and out of breath. He had been having a nightmare again. Not that he could remember much about it anymore. 

It seemed that the dog had somehow woken him up, just in time. 

“Stiles?” The Sheriff opened the door of Stiles’ room and Stiles looked up from the dog, who was still licking his hand. “Everything okay?” The Sheriff raised his eyebrows, but Stiles nodded.

“Yeah, I was having a bad dream again, but Bud woke me up.” Stiles smiled and the Sheriff smiled back at him. 

“Bud? That sounds like you’ve given him a name?” The Sheriff cocked his head a little and Stiles felt his cheeks heating up. 

He had not realized that he had given the dog a name, but he had. “Dad?” He swallowed. “Did you find someone to look after him already?” His voice sounded still sleepy and trembled a little, but the Sheriff shook his head.

“No, it’s not as easy as it seems.” The Sheriff kept on staring at his son and Stiles licked his lips.

“Maybe I can keep him anyway? I don’t want him to end up all alone in a shelter.” Stiles bent his head, but the Sheriff started smiling brightly.

“Of course we can keep him.” The Sheriff walked towards Stiles and the dog and he placed a hand on the dog’s head. “Welcome to the family, Bud.”


End file.
